Snake eyes

When I came across this little treasure sitting just outside my front door, my immediate thought was not one of fear but one of “how do I get may camera without scaring him away?”.

Some people see a snake and run a mile, while others reach in to pick them up.

I have been known to blunder into dangerous situations in order to get a shot and yet mention flying to me and my stomach does a summersault or two. So, it isn’t that I am fearless.

Most of us have our own pet-fears and oftentimes they are unfounded and yet severely disabling.

When I mention to some people that my daughter, Victoria, is a critical care doctor in pediatrics, I often hear that they could never do that because the fear of losing a life or two in a given week would destroy them. But, as she reminds me; it’s the lives she saves that makes the vocation worthwhile.

Many of us allow fear to define our careers and even our lives in that way … fear of failure becoming a guiding principle. Fears can render us disabled, if we allow them to, so it is important to find the courage to move forward despite our fears. Perhaps even to conquer them.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it”  … Nelson Mandela

So next time you encounter a snake at your door, lean over and give him a kiss, take his picture, or just smile and introduce yourself ?

But if it’s a Cottonmouth, go ahead … run that mile!

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